1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to portable resuscitation devices. More particularly, it concerns a portable device capable of both injecting air into, and withdrawing air from, a patient's mouth.
2. The Background Art
It is common practice to provide oxygen to an non-breathing person as part of a cardiopulmonary resuscitation process. In order to resuscitate a non-breathing person, it is known to try to force oxygen into the person's lungs as soon as possible. Prior art apparatus for accomplishing such a purpose involve large oxygen tanks and related machinery which are bulky and cumbersome and must often be transported by ambulance to the non-breathing patient.
Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is often the only option available for treating a non-breathing person. A Bystander performs CPR, including mouth-to-mouth breathing which usually only provides 10% to 20% oxygen content to the lungs, is often insufficient for the purposes of resuscitation and prevention of brain damage. The problem in compounded by the fact that a majority of CPR administrations are preformed improperly. One recent study was published to reveal that only 46% of the Bystander CPR cases included in the study were performed effectively; further, only 4.6% of those receiving effective CPR survived, while only 1.4% of those receiving ineffective CPR survived. Gallagher, et al., "Effectiveness of Bystander Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Survival Following Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest," Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 274, No. 24, 1922-25 (Dec. 27, 1995).
Attempts have been made in the prior art to provide alternatives to Bystander CPR, in the design of portable resuscitation devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,677 (granted Oct. 19, 1971 to Blasko) discloses a portable resuscitator carried in a box with a handle. This device is characterized by several disadvantages, including the need for a bellows device to mix oxygen from a storage bottle with ambient air. The device is designed such that only a limited amount of oxygen can be carried, and the oxygen is therefore supplemented by ambient air which reduces the effectiveness of the device.
There are several other portable resuscitation devices known in the prior art, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,842 (granted Apr. 15, 1980 to Anderson). This patent reference discloses a portable resuscitation device which requires complex electronic control circuitry to provide selectivity between blower operation for I.P.P.B. breathing or alternatively emergency oxygen breathing, as well as other options. This device is expensive to manufacture and complex in operation.
It is noteworthy that none of the prior art known to applicant provides a resuscitation device capable of evacuating air from a patients mouth during the exhalation phase of the resuscitation. There is a long felt need, illustrated by the sobering statistics of low survival rates resulting from Bystander CPR as well as the disadvantageous resuscitation devices currently known, for a portable device which is inexpensive to make, simple in operation and which completes the resuscitation cycle by not only providing oxygen during inhalation but also evacuating air from the patient's mouth during the exhalation phase.